i built a home
by westallens
Summary: AU. It all begins when Hisami Touji jumps into a swimming pool with his clothes on, and the ripples from this one moment changes everything. Told in small snapshots. —Lisa/Nine/Twelve.
1. i : lisa

**MISHIMA LISA**

* * *

She's standing on a starting block that's overseeing a fairly large swimming pool. Put like that, it doesn't sound at all out of the ordinary.

Except she's wearing her school uniform while she's standing on a starting block that's overseeing a fairly large swimming pool. That changes things, doesn't it?

She was only able to take her shoes off and struggle out of her socks, awkwardly hopping on one foot as she did so, cringing at the laughter that reverberated off the walls. Her classmates, talking loudly about her, quite literally _talking behind her back_ , found it to be the funniest thing they've ever seen. That's probably the only reason they allowed her to take off her shoes before forcing her onto the starting block.

But that's not true, exactly, is it? They never forced her to do anything. They just...told her. Coerced her.

That's the worst part of this predicament. They never had to lift a finger; didn't push her, didn't shove her, didn't hit her. One of them simply said, "Hey, Mishima-san, isn't it a great day for a swim? You should dive in!"

She had protested softy, her grip on her bag so tight that her knuckles bled white, while all the other girls joined in, complaining about how hot it was and that she should cool down and maybe she wouldn't be so stuffy if she did a lap in the pool.

Part of her wanted to say, _"Why don't you do it instead, if you're so obsessed with the idea?"_

But Mishima Lisa isn't strong enough, brave enough. She's just not _enough_ , period.

Eventually she had bowed to their instructions, which found her standing on a starting block that's overseeing a fairly large swimming pool, her emotions wrapped up into a ball in her throat and her hands formed into fists at her sides. Any second now, she'll do it. She'll dive in, and the girls will high five and laugh, and they'll steal her shoes and maybe even her bag and run off. Or one of them will get tired of the game and shove her in herself.

This is how it has always happened. This is how she expects it to unfold this time, too.

This is not what happens.

* * *

A/N:

 _Alternate summary: ZnK meets shoujo manga._

 _Heads up that this story will be OT3 Lisa/Twelve/Nine! You may have seen this story under my AO3 account; I decided to cross-post it here on FFN because reasons. I hope you all enjoyed so far, and please do review! (:_


	2. ii : lisa

**MISHIMA LISA**

* * *

The floorboards are wet from droplets of water, creating a small puddle as seconds tick past.

A hush envelopes the classroom as the teacher introduces the boy ( _Hisami Touji_ ), leaning away from him with her notebook up as if to shield herself from his contagious grin. _A smile like the sun, that everyone has to shield themselves from._

The hush ebbs, and then there's muffled laughter and quiet comments being tossed about. Lisa ducks her head, stares hard at her hands and waits for the moment to pass.

"Jambo!" the boy yells energetically, unconcerned, waving an arm in the air.

 _Energetic_. That's a good adjective for the teen, who appears to perpetually be on some kind of sugar high. He's rocking back and forth, unable to stand still. His wet sneakers squeak against the floorboards. Lisa winces at the grating sound, shoulders hunching as a girl near her whispers, "Isn't that him?"

The pack of girls surrounding her — _pack_ , as if they are starving wolves, looking for something to entertain them; that something being Lisa and her misfortune — all laugh daintily behind their hands, but their palms cannot hide their bloodthirsty eyes.

The girl next to her, Satomi, leans in. "Look, he's in our class, Lisa."

Her hands clench on her desk, and she keeps her gaze on them, her nail beds that have been bitten down over time. Much like herself, she thinks. Weak, feeble; _easy picking_. Lisa never puts up a real fight when teeth clamp down on her. The bullying is a way of life, now.

Her teacher's voice breaks through her thoughts. "Hmm, there's an empty seat behind Mishima Lisa. You can sit there. Mishima, raise your hand."

The giggling rears its ugly head. "Yeah, Lisa, raise your hand," Satomi urges, and the appendage trembles, spasms.

"Ah, there's no need for that!" The squeak of sneakers, heading her way. Lisa can't help it; she looks up, almost reflexively.

A wide grin, blinding her. Equally bright eyes. And they're looking right at her. She realizes this much too late, and with a flinch, she finds her fingers captivating once more.

Hisami Touji doesn't laugh at her. He's too busy humming under his breath as he sits down. His pants squelch each time he shifts in his chair, causing laughter to erupt, but he doesn't seem to mind that they're laughing at _him_. Instead he sets his dry bag atop his desk, fiddling with zips. She can see all this from the corner of her eye if she strains hard enough.

But then the lesson begins, and Lisa has to pay attention, or at least pretend that she is.

Behind her, Hisami Touji continues to hum.

* * *

A/N:

 _After the next chapter, this story will, for the most part, divert from the show and be properly AU. Twelve and Nine will be featured next, with Twelve's point of view._

 _Thanks goes out to TheRoseShadow21 for their review! Everyone, please do continue to favourite, follow, and review!_


	3. iii : twelve

**TWELVE**

* * *

I'm on the roof! :D  
 **SEND? YES / NO.**

come quick, i'm huuungry! x( /3  
 **SEND? YES / NO.**

I'll eat w/o u!1 :( :o  
 **SEND? YES / NO.**

hmph looks like i should come g—

 **EMAIL RECEIVED:  
** I'm coming. Stop texting me.

.

The railing is the perfect height for him. He can hook his elbows over and rest his chin atop it without his muscles cramping or becoming stiff.

Nine's glasses are flashing, and he's talking about one thing or another. Stop texting him so much, not to memorize the names of students not in his class, keep a low profile, yada yada, blah blah blah. He's a hypocrite, seeing as a lot of girls have been talking about _him_ in the hallways with hearts in their eyes.

He doesn't realize how appealing he is. New transfer student, dark hair, dark eyes, glasses. Even his aloofness makes girls go crazy for him.

On the other hand, people are only talking about Twelve because he's weird. Too loud, too happy, _too much_.

The two of them have always stood out. He isn't surprised about it, and neither is Nine. It doesn't change the fact that they need to remain under the radar, though. And they will; just not the way Nine wants them to.

Twelve's going to interrupt him with something random, as usual, when he notices something move below them. A dark-haired girl, holding her lunch in trembling hands, making her way towards the girls' bathroom. She runs forward, then pauses; looks around surreptitiously like a thief before continuing forward.

The name comes easily to him. _Mishima Lisa_. And then he's pointing her out to Nine before he can think better of it.

"She has her lunch with her," Twelve continues. "Planning to eat it in the bathroom, maybe?"

Their meeting in the morning comes to mind, and how pale she had looked in homeroom. Trapped, like a small animal. Head bowed and shoulders hunched. Her hands, though, had been balled into fists.

"Don't stick your nose in it," Nine warns.

 _Don't draw more unnecessary attention_ , he means. But most importantly: _don't establish ties_.

Twelve closes his eyes, and Lisa's descent to the bathroom vanishes. Swallowed into darkness. He may be more reckless than Nine, but he knows when to call it quits, contrary to popular belief.

"Aye, aye."

* * *

A/N:

 _Sorry about how long this update took, guys! I forgot which email address this account was on, and it took me until now to track it down. I'm really grateful for all the reviews, favourites, and follows this story has gotten in the meantime._

 _Next chapter won't feature canon dialogue, and will finally be divergent from the show. :)_

 _Thank you to TheRoseShadow21, Miyako Shinohara, Kimisa, Reviewer, and InLightIsHope for their reviews! I hope people are still interested in this story, lol._


	4. iv : nine

**NINE**

* * *

There's a kind of irony in the fact that, after having told Twelve not to get involved with Mishima Lisa, he meets her himself. Nine does not like irony, as it never holds positive connotations. This instance is no exception to the rule.

He's dodging the girls in his class (and some _not_ in his class - how did they even learn of him?), hands shoved deep into the pockets of his slacks, and turns a corner in the hallway once he hears squeals come from behind him.

It's frustrating that he can't tell them to leave him alone, because that will bring _more_ attention to him. Which means he can only hasten his steps and hope they don't do anything asinine like break into a sprint. When he turns the corner, however, he runs into someone. Literally.

The girl yelps, arms comically pinwheeling as she falls backwards. He's planning on apologizing quickly and leaving when the girl brushes back her bangs and he realizes who she is. Mishima Lisa. _Irony at its finest._

"I'm s-sorry," Mishima Lisa mumbles, peering up at him. It's obvious when she recognizes him, for her eyes widen a touch and her lips part. But that isn't what he's focused on.

It's her eyes. He stiffens at the sight of them, before the surprise ebbs away. The urge to walk away returns, twofold.

"It's fine," he says blandly, and is about to keep walking when an arm loops around his own. Nine barely suppresses a twitch at the contact.

"There you are!" says one of the girls he was attempting to dodge. She smiles widely up at him. He does not return it. "I thought we wouldn't be able to catch you!"

"So mean!" whines another. "I bet you saw us but kept walking!"

He only answers with, "I see."

A third sidles up next to him, gaze leaving his to take in Mishima Lisa, still sprawled on the ground. "Lisa! How _wonderful_ it is to see you! Come to think of it, you never eat with us during lunch time! Satomi misses you, y'know."

Mishima Lisa pales, getting up. "Sorry, I-I...eat with other people." Obviously a lie.

"Uh-huh?" the girl responds. It's clear she doesn't believe her. "And who would these other people be? I didn't know you had friends _apart_ from us."

Mishima Lisa wrings the hem of her skirt, avoiding her eyes as she stammers. It's almost painful to watch. Either way, he is annoyed by the three schoolgirls latching onto him. He shakes them off. "I have somewhere to be. If you'll excuse me."

Predictably, they aren't too happy. "But Arata-kun!"

"I-I should get going too," he faintly hears Mishima Lisa say, before he notices her walking from the corner of his eye. He's taller than her, however, so it's next to impossible for her to overtake him.

He realizes then that he's been looking at her from his peripherals for too long; he looks away. Nine _doesn't_ walk faster, but manages to outstrip the girl anyway. Because she's just too slow, obviously.

* * *

A/N:

 _This is so far the longest of my chapters, which may be because of how difficult it is to pin Nine down, but also because of the amount of dialogue and such used. And some semblance of a plot is forming, hallelujah._

 _Thank you to TheRoseShadow21 for reviewing! Please do continue to favourite, follow, and review!_


	5. v : lisa

**MISHIMA LISA**

* * *

Naomi slings her arm around her shoulders as they pass the school gates. "Lisa-chan," she begins casually enough, but Lisa's stomach drops all the same, "you wouldn't happen to know Arata-kun, would you?"

She blinks. "Who...?"

"Arata-kun," the girl hisses, and her arm tightens around her neck like a vice. Lisa grimaces but doesn't struggle. Knows better not to. "Kokonoe Arata. He's a grade higher than us. The one you bumped into the other day like an idiot."

So that's his name. Now that she thinks about it, the girls who had attached themselves to him — Naomi included — had called him Arata-kun then, too. It must have slipped her mind.

"I don't know him. I just bumped into him by mistake," Lisa tells her, and it's more or less the truth. She had first seen him that day when Hisami Touji had jumped in the pool, but he hadn't said anything to her. Just stared, his eyes as cold as they had been peering down at her in the school hallway that day.

Naomi isn't convinced, however. "Really? Because you two seemed pretty cozy walking together."

Satomi comes up on Lisa's other side, smiling, though it looks more like she's baring her teeth. "Naomi-chan filled me in. You said you 'eat lunch with other people', and he always leaves the classroom during lunch... weird, isn't it?"

"I-I don't eat lunch with him," she says, startled. The mere thought make her nauseous. And anyway, she doesn't eat lunch with anyone; she just said she did so she wouldn't be roped into eating with Satomi and her friends. If only she hadn't bumped into him...

Lips pursed, Satomi stares at her for a moment. "That's not what everyone's saying."

"Th-They're wrong." Lisa stares at her hands; her knuckles are white, nails sinking into the skin of her palms. "I don't know him. I don't."

"Be sure to keep it that way," Naomi says, and finally shoves her away. Lisa stumbles twice before falling to her knees, and the girls laugh as they walk into the school. Through the dark curtain of her hair, she can see passing students' gazes on her: amused, pitying, indifferent.

She gets up eventually, dusting her skirt off and following the girls inside. Her phone buzzes in her pocket, the first time that day but certainly not the last, and she doesn't have to check to know it's her mom.

The tight feeling in her chest grows.

* * *

A/N:

 _Plot's finally starting up now! Also, the previous chapter was edited because TheRoseShadow21 made a really valid point when she pointed out that Nine sounded colder in his thoughts than we knew him to be. Which is why I decided to tweak it up a little, so go ahead and read it again if you'd like._

 _Since I'm on vacation in Europe right now, I'm not sure how long it'll be until the next update, but I'll try my best. Fingers crossed._

 _Major thanks to IamMinia and TheRoseShadow21 for their reviews! Do keep on favouriting, following, and reviewing, guys!_


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